Madison Keys won her first Grand Slam title with a surprising 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 decision against the top seed Aryna Sabalenka in Saturday’s Australian Open final. The 29-year-old American put on the performance of her career to dethrone Sabalenka, who was seeking a third straight title in Melbourne.
Keys cruised through the first set behind her dominating groundstrokes and took advantage of Sabalenka’s uncharacteristic mistakes, including four double faults. But the Belarusian hit back in the second set, mixing clever slices with consistent shot-making on his way to forcing a decider.
Tied at 5-5 in the final set, Keys swatted whips of winners to break Sabalenka’s serve before closing out the greatest victory of her career. Beside herself, she savored her victory with her team even as tears streamed down her face, while Sabalenka destroyed her racket in anger.
Keys’ victory also makes her the fourth-oldest first-time Grand Slam champion of the professional era, and the first player to defeat both the world No. 1 and the world No. 2 to reach an Australian Open final since Serena Williams in 2003.
“This means the absolute world to me,” Keys said in a statement, recalling her long-anticipated victory. Sabalenka, generous in defeat, promised to come back stronger next year.
